Windmill



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P. EREKSON. WINDMILL No. 529,612. Patented Nov. 20, 1894.

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P. EREKSON.

WINDMILL.

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WINDMILL.

Patented Nov. 20", 1894.

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NITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER EREKSON, OF HOUSTON, MINNESOTA.

WINDMILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,612, dated November 20, 1894.

Application filed May 24, 1894 Serial No. 512,293. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER EREKSON, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Houston, in the county of Houston and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Windmills; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a windmill with a wind-wheel of improved construction the blades of which are operated by a supplemental wheel rotatable on the shaft independent of the wind-wheel; and it consists in the construction and combination of the parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a windmill constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the wind-wheel. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view. Fig. 4 is a side elevation, and Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the blades of the wind-wheel showing the manner of holding the same out of the wind.

A designates the supporting frame or tower of the windmill which is constructed in the usual manner and provided with a cap A and at a suitable point below the cap with a.

platform 0. reached by a ladder or in any other manner. The cap is provided with an annular recess in which bear a suitable number of steel balls forming a bearing for the turntable A which supports the gearing mechanism and the shafts carrying the wind-wheel and counterbalancing weight. The turn-table consists of a casting having a vertical bore through which the driving shaft 0 passes and recesses in its sides in which are rigidly secured the ends of the shafts B and B, carrying the wind-wheel and counterbalancing weight, and stub-shafts upon which are mounted the gearwheels which communicate motion from the wind-wheel to the drivingshaft. The ends of these shafts are provided with bent portions as shown in Fig. 3 which fit into the recesses in the turn-table and are held securely therein by metal bandsa'. It

will be noted that the driving-shaft C passing through the turn-table and cap holds the turn-table in place, the gearwheel c on the upper "end of the shaft holding said turn-table down upon its hearing. The lower end of the driving-shaft O is stepped in a bearingplate at the foot of the tower and adjacent thereto it is provided with a gearwheel c which meshes with a gearwheel mounted on a horizontal shaft, said horizontal shaft carrying a brake-wheel against which the brake-shoe of a brake-lever C bears for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

D designates the windwheel which is mounted to rotate freely upon the shaft B, the hub d at its inner end having keyed thereon a gearwheel d which meshes with the gearwheels a carried by the turn-table, the said gearwheels 0. also meshing with the gearwheel 0 of the driving-shaft. The wind-Wheel is held in place upon the shaft by a collar 6 which bears against the outer end of the hub and holds the gearwheel d in mesh with the gearwheels a The spokes or arms D of the wind-wheel are let into the hub in the usual manner and are connected at their outer ends by means of a metal band (1 and said spokes or arms are further braced by means of angle braces D which are attached at one end to one of the spokes or arms and at the other to the adjoiningspoke or arm, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2. The blades E of the mudwheel are hinged to the spokes or arms and are limited in their movement in one direction by contact with the horizontal portions (1 of the angle braces. Two of the blades, on opposite sides of the wheel, are provided with spring catches c which engage with the horizontal portions of the angle braces and hold the blades out of the wind. The catches levers out of engagement with the catches.

The lovers are operated against the action of the springs by means of flexible connections f which extend around guide pulleys to a rod f which is adapted to slide in guides attached to one of the spokes, the rod being connected to a helical spring f which acts in conjunction with the springs f. The rod f is operated by the attendant from the platform a, and in order that the rod may be brought automatically within reach of the platform it is provided with a weightf which will overbalance the other parts of the wheel so as to bring the part carrying the rod lowermost, it being understood that when the rod is to be operated to release the catches the blades are out of the wind and the wheel ata standstill.

G designates a supplemental wheel which is mounted loosely on the shaft B adjoining the wind-wheel and is made up of a hub g from which extend spokes or arms Gr connected to each other at their outer ends by a band g. The ends of the spokes or arms are connected to the outer edges of the blades E of the wind-wheel by rods 3, and on opposite sides of the supplemental wheel the spokes are connected by cross-pieces g each cross piece being provided with an aperture, and through these apertures pass the ends of spring rods 25 which extend from two of the spokes of the Wind-wheel. The tendency of the spring rods is to move the supplemental wheel with respect to the wind-wheel so that the blades will be positioned to be operated upon by the wind when the catches e are disengaged from the angle braces as hereinbefore described. The spring rods t are each made up of a helical portion which encircles a pin or rod't attached to brackets t secured to one of the spokes D of the wind-wheel and from one end of this helical portion extends the member twhich passes through one of the cross-pieces g of the supplemental wheel.

The supplemental wheel G is retained upon the shaft B by a collar h which is'rigidly secured to said shaft, and beyond this collar the vane I is rigidly secured to the shaft to project on a line therewith. I

The parts of the windmill carried by the shaft B are counterbalanced on the other side of the turn-table by a weight WV which is hung upon the shaft B, said shaft being braced by a rod bwhich extends from the outer end of the same to the upper end of the driving-shaft O.

The tension of the spring rods t can be increased and diminished by tightening or loosening the helical portion.

In starting the windmill the attendant ascen ds to the platform and draws upon the rod 1 which moves the levers F through the medium of the connections and causes them to move the spring catches e out of engagement with the angle braces. This releases the blades and permits the supplemental wheel which is actuated by the spring rods t to turn them in proper position to be operated upon by the wind, and according to the force of the wind the angle of the blades will be varied as the blades will be turned by the wind against the action of the spring rods and thus provide an efficient means for regulating the power of the wheel.

When it is desired to stop the wind-wheel and throw the blades out of the wind the brake is applied to the wheel a which suddenly checks the rotation of the wind-wheel and the impetus of the supplemental wheel G will draw upon the blades through the connecting rods 3 so that the catches (3 will engage the angle braces and hold the blades so that the wind will have no efiect thereon.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a windmill, the combination, of a windwheel consisting of spokes or arms to which the blades are hinged, angle braces extending from each arm or spoke to the adjoining one, catches attached to two or more of the blades and adapted to engage with the angle braces, and levers pivoted to the angle braces and adapted to disengage the catches, substantially as shown and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a windmill, the combination,of awindwheel consisting of spokes or arms to which the blades are hinged, angle braces extending from each arm or spoke to an adjoining one, catches attached to two or more of the blades and adapted to engage with the angle braces, levers pivoted to the angle braces and connected to springs for holding them normally away from the catches and means for moving the lovers against the action of the springs, substantially as shown and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a windmill, the combination, of a windwheel consisting of spokes or arms to which the blades are hinged, angle braces extending from each arm or spoke to an adjoining one, catches attached to two or more of the blades and adapted to engage with the angle braces, means for operating the levers to disengage the catches, together with a supplemental wheel G connected to the blades of the windwheel by rods and to the spokes of the windwheel by spring rods, substantially as shown and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a windmill, the combination, of a windwheel and supplemental wheel both being mounted loosely on the same supporting shaft, rods connecting the supplemental wheel to the edges of the blades of the wind-wheel and spring rods extending from the spokes of the wind-Wheel and engaging the supplemental wheel, catches carried by the blades of the wind-wheel and adapted to engage with braces connected to the spokes, and means for operating the catches consisting of levers connected to flexible connections extending to a weighted sliding lever, substantially as shown and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PETER ER-EKSON.

Witnesses: Y

K. T. THOMPSON, EVEN J. AARBAK. 

